On Feb. 4, GDS high school students received their first-semester report cards. On the document, you could see your letter grades, service hours completed and attendance record. However, this year’s report cards felt empty because they were missing one key element: personalized comments from teachers.
In years past, when students received their first- and second-semester report cards, below their letter grade was a paragraph about their performance in a given class. The paragraph described the progress of the student and brought up numerous assignments they worked on throughout the semester. What I used to look forward to about getting my report card was not the grades itself but the element of surprise and excitement that came with getting comments from my teachers. Seeing not only what I needed to change but also how well my teacher understood me in class felt special and is what made report cards feel important.
Additionally, there is something very special about getting comments on report cards because it demonstrates to me that my teachers see the effort I am making in their classes and are paying attention to aspects about myself unrelated to my academic performance.
This year, a new policy required teachers to send at least one student update during the first semester with either negative or positive feedback. However, in comparison to the old report card comments, student updates are short and are not as detailed when describing my progress in class. Student updates tend to be a very brief overview of the student’s progress on a specific assignment or the class in general. Report card comments, on the other hand, were longer paragraphs where the teacher would go in depth about a student’s progress, work and presence in class.
Sophomore Mason Wechsler said when he received his first student update this year, he was immediately worried. Wechsler’s mindset is not an uncommon one. Prior to the new policy, positive student updates were rare. Typically, receiving a student update meant you had displayed a noticeable enough dropoff in academic performance to involve your parents. Because student updates tended to be critical of a student’s performance, student updates had a negative connotation, and although the new policy introduces more positive student updates, the anxiety surrounding the update remains.
When I got my first student update this year, I purposely didn’t open it right away because I was worried that it was going to be bad news. Although I was aware of the new policy, I still felt anxious receiving a student update. Ultimately, the update was positive, but my initial reaction to receiving an update made a positive message feel underwhelming.
Then, when I got my report card, I was left feeling confused about what my teachers think I need to improve on or where I have been succeeding. Getting insight on your performance during the first semester allows you to better understand how to set yourself up for a successful second semester.
“[Report cards] always felt more whole and cumulative,” senior Lindsay Lamken said. “It was everything you had done in your class up until that point, and the student updates are more about, like, one thing.”
This year, the turnaround for report cards was much quicker than last year because teachers did not have to take the time to write comments for each student. Math teacher Brooke Coleman said she thought the new change was good. “The end of semester grading process was much easier this year,” Coleman said.
Although I understand the new policy makes creating report cards more efficient, as a student who thrives on teacher feedback, I would rather wait longer to get the report cards than receive shorter messages throughout the semester that feel less descriptive of my progress. The new policy takes away the personalized nature of the report cards and teachers sending generic student updates devalues their serious impact. The GDS administration should change the policy back so that report cards include longer comments that feel special.